Grace Needs Space

A 12-year-old discovers that even navigating the vastness of space is not as complicated as maneuvering conflicts surrounding family and friendship in this lushly illustrated adventure graphic novel. Grace, a child of divorced parents, is excited to spend time away from her mother, the chief engineer on Genova Station, with her other mother, Ba, a freighter captain who frequently travels to Titan, one of Saturn’s moons. While Grace was expecting to embark on epic adventures with Ba, she finds, instead, that Ba is too busy working to pay her any mind, much like Mom back on Genova. Grace soon befriends a group of students while exploring Titan and accompanies them on educational field trips, but when an incident results in her being left behind during an excursion, she feels as if she’s drifting even further from her parents. Through touching and natural-feeling dialogue, portrayed via saturated, full-color illustrations, Wilgus (Chronin) and Abrego (Sprite and the Gardener) skillfully highlight the enormity of the interstellar setting alongside Grace’s intimate personal realizations. Though the story takes place among the cosmos, the earthly truths surrounding love and connection proves artfully rendered. Grace and Mom are depicted with brown skin; Ba has pale skin. Ages 8–12. Agent: Eddie Schneider, JABberwocky Literary. (Apr.)